Where Everyone Can Get Along
by Mrotrax
Summary: In an idealised world, JD joins Veronica and Martha on one of their movie nights. One shot for now, open to adoption/ expansion. Read and review, would ye kindly?


**Where everyone can get along**

"I'm a sucker for a happy ending."

Martha said those words so often it could be considered her words to live by. And she never gave up on those words.

They drove Veronica crazy sometimes, other times making her smile at her friend's naivety/ simple nature. Maybe it was also out of a twinge of jealousy that while she had embraced the fact that everyone was a jerk, Martha hadn't; her childhood best friend believed that everyone had good in them and deserved happiness.

Perhaps it was because of this that Veronica had managed to maintain her Friday movie nights with her childhood friend. It was a nice reprieve from the Heathers' usual acts of teenage rebellion and pot-stirring.

Both of them treasured these movie nights: they'd watch something uplifting and talk about their problems in all manners of life, munching on Jiffy Pop and downing so much Soda it was a miracle that they got any sleep after things winded down.

So it took her for a surprise when Martha suggested that they invite JD to join them.

"Why?" Veronica asked after checking that the Heathers were still a way's away.

"You like him, right?" Martha asked knowingly. "And yeah, he seems kind of scary, but I'm sure he's a good guy deep down."

The unofficial 4th Heather then noticed her 'real friends' were getting close, and she had no time point out or make a remark about JD.

"No promises." Veronica said.

HEATHERS

"I don't know…" JD said when Veronica had brought it up with him when the hung out at the 7-Eleven later that day.

"What's to know?" Veronica asked, mentally thanking the fact that JD at least didn't outright reject the notion. "Free snacks, comfy chairs, me and the only other possibly good person in the school?"

"This is a you and her thing, I'll be cramping the mood." He pointed out, uncharacteristically sensitive on the topic. "Sides, chick flicks aren't my thing."

"Then don't worry. Martha's probably going to rent The Princess Bride again." Veronica said, before remembering this would be a double feature. "Look, if not the whole thing, stay for the first one?"

"I dunno…." JD was trying to come up with an excu..Reason! Yeah that was the word. Reason, not to go. He was already risking a lot just letting Veronica being close to him (although deep down he was grateful for it) and based on what he'd heard about Martha, she seemed…off.

"Oh come on, what do you have to do otherwise?" Veronica asked. "Homework? Hang out here and then spend time in an empty house? You do that enough as it is."

Bud was out of town for the next week starting Friday, a major deal in the works. Part of JD hoped that this one fared better than the others, so that he could stay here, as these 'big meetings' were often a sign they'd be on the road again soon, usually due to Bud ticking someone off…or something he didn't think about.

So JD had his house to himself, with no dad to play 'reverse family' with, with no social circle to throw a party with….

"I swear, it's a miracle you're not insane yet." Veronica muttered under her breath.

"All evidence to the contrary." JD smirked, remembering his tussle with Kurt and Ram with glee. "Come on, you go and have fun without me. We'll hang on the weekend or something."

"Actually no." Veronica confessed. "Dad's driving us up for a family reunion bright and early Saturday, we won't be back til the wee hours of Monday."

JD slurping became downtrodden; no he had little to look forward to…but still, that didn't mean he wanted to go watch movies in an unfamiliar house

He then noticed that the only person he liked in this town giving him the look that all men fear; the puppy dog pout.

"Please?" Veronica cooed

"No." JD steeled himself. "That's not going to work, Veronica."

"Please, JD?" Veronica repeated herself, stretching out the please and looking at him as cutely as possible before her gaze turned sensual.

He tried to remain strong, he really did. If there was one thing he could thank Bud for, it was being able to harden his heart and ignore feelings and people in order to get what he wanted.

But not with Veronica.

"…Where and when?" He groaned, his dread increasing when he saw her smug grin.

HEATHERS

JD showed up at Veronica's house around 6:30, with a plastic bag filled with snacks and a half-finished Slurpee in his free hand.

"Jason Dean?" Mrs. Sawyer asked with a smile, getting a nod in response as she moved to allow him entrance into the house. "Welcome. Cutting it close, aren't you?"

"I figured I'd bring a couple of things." JD said as well-mannered as he could: On the way over it ahd occurred to him that this was his fist time going to someone's house, that someone being his possible girlfriend. He'd mentally prepped himself to be on his best behavior.

"Can I take your coat?" Mrs. Sawyer asked.

"Thanks, but I think I'll keep it for now." JD responded before the man who had to be Veronica's father sitting in the kitchen reading the paper with a plate of something in front of him. Close by were three suitcases, packed for the trip.

JD ignored the memory of the two suitcases Bud kept packed in the den, deciding to focus on this evening as much as he could.

Mr. Sawyer gave JD a look over, and the normally fearless young man suddenly grew antsy. Not antsy like around Bud at his worst, mind you…But regardless, he was relieved when the older man smiled.

"Pate?" Mr. Sawyer offered the young man.

JD vaguely recalled Bud talking about the stuff at his business networking function parties; it wasn't Bud's go to party snack, the older Dean calling it a hit or miss.

"Dear, please." Mrs. Sawyer groaned. "Don't force that junk on someone else."

With a chuckle as well as being curious and wanting to remain as polite as possible, JD tentatively took a cracker and spread some of the questionable on it. He then gave the man a grateful nod, gave what he'd made a final glance before taking a bite.

He wasn't sure what it was he didn't like, but he forced himself to swallow it.

"Thanks." He said weakly, the odd aftertaste starting to fade and him trying to keep his face as 'normal' as he could.

"Not your cup of tea, I take it?" Mrs. Sawyer asked knowingly, to which JD nodded.

It wasn't bad, per say…just not want he'd been expecting. He slurped down the last bit of his slurpee, delighting in the brain-freeze as it cleared his mouth of the pate's taste.

"The girls are downstairs." Mrs. Sawyer motioned. "Bathroom's right next to the doors, try to keep the volume down after 11."

"Thanks, and we'll try." JD nodded as he turned in the direction he'd been pointed to.

"We'll check in sometime." Mrs. Sawyer added. "So no shenanigans."

JD nodded in understanding.

"You're in for a doozy!" Mr. Sawyer teased, which JD chuckled at as he made his way to the basement, the smell of popcorn greeting his nose.

There was Veronica, helping Martha set everything up; two Jiffy Pops were already in bowls, with two more on the side along with a cooler with three 2 liter bottles of Coke, Orange and Root Beer in it.

"Guess who?" JD announced cheekily, delighting in the shocked reactions he got out of Veronica and Martha.

"You're late." Veronica grumbled as she and Martha stopped what they were doing to greet him.

"Sorry, I just figured it'd be proper etiquette if I brought some snacks." JD smiled as he brought the bag up. "After all, I was invited."

Martha smiled at the nice gesture, but her childhood friend didn't seem to share her thoughts. At least, not to the same level.

"I'll go grab some plates and bowls." Veronica groaned as she got up, shooting JD a look. "You. Behave."

JD shooed her off with a light smile on his face, while placing one hand to his chest.

"I do hereby solemnly swear…"

Veronica was already upstairs, leaving JD alone with Martha 'Dump-truck' Dubois.

"So, you brought this whole thing together, huh?" He asked Martha, who nodded. "Why?"

"Well, you're the new kid and Veronica likes you." Martha said simply. "Sides, you don't seem to have a lot of friends, so… I thought…"

"Thought you'd be kind of scared of me." JD confessed. "After what happened in the cafeteria and all…."

Martha surprised JD by nodding with a fearful smile on her face

"I left it at home, don't worry." JD assured her, emptying all his pockets to assure her of this.

"Yeah, what you did to Kurt and Ram…" Martha mused, and JD noticed she pronounced the latter's name with a sense of…dreaminess. "That was the highlight of the day. Cant say I saw it coming…or that they didn't deserve it."

"Especially Rammie, right?" JD teased, only to feel bad when this seemed to deflate Martha's mood. "Hey, hey! Don't worry. I barely touched him compared to Kurt."

Martha nodded in understanding.

"I know." She replied. "Anyways…call me a sucker or sappy or whatever, but…I've always been a sucker for a happy ending. And like Veronica, I think everyone is good deep down."

' _You don't know my dad…'_ JD mused inwardly, but keeping his attention on Veronica's childhood friend's words.

"She's the only good thing in my life."

"Same here." Martha mused

Veronica then came back down

"So Martha, what we watching this time?"

"She has it memorized." Veronica whispered in JD's ear. "Fair warning."

HEATHERS

The Princess Bride actually didn't turn out that bad; JD actually found himself laughing and getting involved in the characters, especially Inigo Montoya, although he was sure that the sick kid in the real world part of the story was everywhere nowadays, which Veronica thanked him for confirming for her. He was disappointed they didn't show 'to the pain' (he understood why, but still; a guy loves seeing a stuck up jerk get what's coming to him), but the movie was refreshing change form Dad's demolition tapes.

Being close to Veronica was also nice, and while he was surprised by it, he found Martha a nice change of pace compared to most of the people he'd seen at Westerburg, which was admittedly not many, but…

The snacks he'd grabbed on the way had been appreciated, Veronica munching on Licorice and

In all honesty, JD found he enjoyed the first movie over the second one, which Martha had picked out for him; he didn't even remember anything about it when it was done; it had a happy ending as well, but the Princess Bride just…appealed to him.

It was a little over Midnight when things died down. Martha was bunking at the Sawyer's for the night and house-sitting, and Veronica was going to try to squeeze in an hour or so in bed before riding in a car for a few hours.

"You sure you don't want a ride?" Veronica asked as JD helped clean up

"Nah, I could use the fresh air. Sides, I might grab breakfast junk at 7-Eleven. No need to burden your old man with my junk." JD assured her.

"Well, keep safe." Martha told him.

"Marth, it's me." JD teased. "Who's going to stupid enough to mess with the kid who pulled out a gun in school?"

He then smiled in a way that Veronica only saw once in a blue moon; a gentle and sweet smile.

"Thanks. For this."

Martha waved off the thanks before remembering that she wasn't in the same social gathering as her two friends….still, she decided to try.

"So… see you Monday?"

JD shrugged.

"If you come to the 7-Eleven, maybe before that."

He gave Veronica a gentlemanly peck on the hand before patting Martha on the shoulder and then heading out.

"I like him." Martha said bluntly, delighting in making her best friend blush

JD chuckled as he began the trek back to his empty house, a genuine smile on his face.

HEATHERS

The next day, JD joined Martha for lunch at her table while Veronica was with the Heathers at some event; he didn't really pay attention to that unless it directly involved Veronica.

"Had a good weekend?"

JD shrugged.

"Place to myself, take-out and no curfew." He mused. "You?"

Martha let out a sigh

"Nothing too intested."

They ate in silence for a while before:

"So…" JD asked. "My dad's out for a while, and TV and radio gets boring after a while. You got any movie recommendations?"

 **Read and review, would ye kindly?**

 **This is a one-shot for now, but I might return to it. It is up for adoption for anyone who has ideas on how to expand.**

 **Have a good one**


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